SEMINAR: E-Cigarettes, Trick or Treats

The Tobacco Free Coalition of Delaware County will host a seminar entitled ―E-Cigarettes, Trick or Treats‖ on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the Ball State Alumni Center at 2800 W. Bethel Ave., Muncie Indiana 47304.

Indiana has been a test market for at least seven new tobacco products in the past 12 years. Introduced in 2007, electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes ) are battery operated devices that claim to contain no tobacco, but are designed to look like conventional cigarettes. They are intended to be inhaled, (known as vaping), similar to how a smoker uses conventional cigarettes. In Indiana, about 24% of adults age 18-44 have tried e-cigarettes. Stay healthy. Be informed.

Attendees will learn the truth about Electronic-Cigarettes and Harm Reduction Products. This seminar will provide information on current research, health risks and findings relative to smokeless tobacco and e-cigarette use. The seminar will also shed light on the devices being used by school-age youth to disguise use in the classrooms and on school grounds as well as the health risk associated with their use. Information on the Tobacco Industry’s current marketing tactics, target and aim will present a clear picture of the future of these emerging products, the ways that their use are effecting social norms, circumventing federal laws and years of tobacco prevention efforts.

Anyone who wants to be well-informed about this topic is encouraged to attend. We hope that list will include; educators, legislators, health care professionals, parents, and the public.

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that provide doses of nicotine and other additives to the user in an aerosol. Depending on the brand, e-cigarette cartridges typically contain nicotine, a component to produce the aerosol (e.g., propylene glycol or glycerol), and flavorings (e.g., fruit, mint, or chocolate) (1). Potentially harmful constituents also have been documented in some e-cigarette cartridges, including irritants, genotoxins, and animal carcinogens (1). E-cigarettes that are not marketed for therapeutic purposes are now unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and in most states there are no restrictions on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Use of e-cigarettes has increased among U.S. adult current and former smokers in recent years (2); however, the extent of use among youths is uncertain.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), e-cigarette experimentation and recent use doubled among U.S. middle and high school students during 2011–2012, resulting in an estimated 1.78 million students having ever used e-cigarettes as of 2012. Moreover, in 2012, an estimated 160,000 students who reported ever using e-cigarettes had never used conventional cigarettes.

This is a serious concern because the overall impact of e-cigarette use on public health remains uncertain. In youths, concerns include the potential negative impact of nicotine on adolescent brain development (4), as well as the risk for nicotine addiction and initiation of the use of conventional cigarettes or other tobacco products. The electronic cigarette market is now being ventured by ―Big Tobacco.‖

“The larger tobacco companies are manufacturing e-cigarettes and I believe that it is safe to assume that the Tobacco Industry is not now, nor has it ever been in the business of helping people stop smoking. Most are aware of its deceptive practices. Candy flavored vapor, hmm…wonder who they hope to attract with that ploy.” Jacey Foley, Coordinator, Tobacco Free Coalition of Delaware County.

It is important to note that, e-cigarettes have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they contain nicotine (the most addictive substance found in cigarettes), as well as other carcinogens and toxic chemicals. In September 2010, FDA issued a number of warning letters to electronic cigarette distributors for various violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act including ―violations of good manufacturing practices, making unsubstantiated drug claims, and using the devices as delivery mechanisms for active pharmaceutical ingredients.‖

While the health risks of e-cigarettes and exposure to passive vaping are yet unknown, we do know that there is evidence based tobacco prevention and cessation methods. To learn more about how to quit smoking call 1.800.Quit.Now or visit www.quitnow.com for free professional help.

About Author

Dean Baker is a macroeconomist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. He previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University.

2 Comments

Just refer to the fallowing links please, there are 6 false statements in this article:

1. there have been many tests done on these products; a new study was published on August 8th, 2013, a meta-analysis of 9000 individual tests were complied and assessed. The results are as clear as can be: the risks are “insignificant” and there is absolutely no risk to bystanders.

2. i am 44 years old, I had a binky as a child; my father says I might have murdered my own mother had she ever tried to take it. At 6 years old, they tried….for the next 6 months, I continued to come out with one in my mouth: I had hoarded dozens of them in deep dark secret hiding places. My favorite vape flavor is Sweet Tarts. I am one of about 20% of the population: a demographic that tends to present with more juvenile personality characteristics. We like candy, alot. I used to have a big candy bowl, it was always full-sweet tarts, gobstoppers, lemon drops, cherry sours…I probably ate my weight in candy every month. I’m only a hundred pounds, but still. Since I started vaping 4 years ago, I did away with the candy bowl-totally unconsciously. The candy flavors are not targeting youth. They are targeting US 20 percent.

3. the warning letters are sent to company’s whose websites have any verb which implies a therapeutic benefit-even customer reviews that say something like “I feel better… qualify under the FDA’s tightly wound regs.

4. good manufacturing practices were constructed for the purpose of having a system in place to ensure that facilities where food or pharmaceutical products are made are maintained under an acceptable level of cleanliness, environmental considerations, batching and lot record keeping and thorough documentation of unexpected events that might occur during the manufacturing process etc. if you have never been into a vape shop, you wouldn’t know this….but consumers of vaping products understand that the flavors of liquid they purchase are made by the vape shop-if that is indeed the case-it is not a secret and is a generally accepted risk that vapers take. Again, its that 20 percent of the population-we tend to be risk takers. We are adults, leave us to it. remember that good manufacturing practices allows for a certain quotient of contaminants in our food products. the next time you slander e cigs with the less than 00. something percent of mutagens, think about the bug parts dissolved in your last cup of coffee or cup of applesauce.

5. There are several states that currently have bill proposals in the writing phase, some states have passed laws in one house, but not yet the senate etc. Jan. 2014 will likely see numerous states passing laws that prohibit the sale to minors. I must point out that these campaigns, for passage of regulations preventing minors from purchasing these products, every one of them has been initiated by vapers. I promise. We are growing in number, these products have changed our lives, we honor the grace we have been given by way of having access to these products and we have organized, become very active in promoting ethical principles of marketing, sales, and consumption. My personal experience is a complete remission of my asthma. I know, that sounds therapeutic. That is just my personal experience.

6.there are inexpensive products that are easily obtained, which we can use to test the liquid ourselves. many of us do this. some don’t. I have not. I am one of 11% of vapers who are health-care professionals. Oncology physicians and Hospitalists with whom I have worked along side promote access to vapes, permit the use of them by their patients who are in the hospital.

7. the FDA has not “approved” them because they have not yet officially even declared that they have any legitimate regulatory authority over them. They do have the authority to regulate medical drug delivery devices in general and that is why they are able to send out those warning letters: what the letters state is that company “A” is using language on their website that the CFR has limited to use by companies who are marketing a product that they had previously submitted to the FDA specifically for the purpose of wanting the product to be approved as a drug delivery device and that the FDA did approve it as such. This is a very lengthy process, sometimes taking years, with to and fro paperwork submissions and requests responses etc. The FDA was granted authority to regulate “Cigarettes, Tobacco Cigarettes, Roll Your Own Tobacco and Smokeless Tobacco” only. The FDA has been incrementally modifying its’ own scope of authority so that the vapes can eventually be rationalized as falling into one of these categories. They do this, begrudgingly, as an alternative to other more desirable outcomes for the FDA, the medical device industry and the tobacco industry-but would be detrimental to the vaping consumer. This is because the US District Court Judge who has heard the FDA’s statements each time they have petitioned to be granted some sort of substantial regulatory authority of e cigs. the Court has repeatedly denied the FDA’s efforts, on legitimate grounds of the inability to provide even a single piece of evidence that shows e cigs pose any risk to the public greater than standard occupational risks, or exposures to harmful substances any greater than actual smoking cessation products already approved by the FDA. And in 2009, the FDA sought to obtain the required evidence by soliciting the public to call a 1800 number for adverse events associated with vaping. But to this very day, they have not released any summary of any calls received. I would think if something significant came up, It would be front page news.

8. i have a copy of 2 different studies on the BENEFITS OF NICOTINE. Yes, that is not a typo. I have not read the study to which you mention about adolescent brains. I am a mother. I love my child just as much as any parent. Reason guides my actions as a parent. Reason and evidence. I am not naive about the realities of personality traits, the power of being enticed by taboo, the normal adolescent urge to grow up faster. My daughter is a black belt; she has competed on an international level; has made the US team-she is an athlete. Why then would she choose to stick a nasty cigarette in her mouth? Well, she did, while off at college. Started on the weekend, occasionally and progressed to at times during the weekdays. She began purchasing packs (she’s 21). As soon as I learned about this; I knew it would be futile to remind her of her granny’s very premature death from smoking related illness, I knew it would fall on dead ears to remind her of her athlete status, her international success, and so on. But I reminded her anyway, and then I promptly took her to a vape shop. She has not smoked a tobacco cig since. I guarantee that I would not have done this, had I not been CONVINCED of the 100-1000 times reduced harm in using the vaping alternative.

Is it attractive? Probably not? Does it seem uncivilized? To you, maybe so. Is it completely bizarre? I suppose, to an onlooker and member of the other 80 percent, Its’ just plain unnecessary that any of us should be vaping.

Please, review the data in these links I am providing.

Aside from these points addressing the inaccuracy of your article I am worried that you will further misinform those who attend your seminar.

On a side bar, the concept of reduced harm is actually very profound. Simply, it offers a solution to the conundrum of administering to the needs of public safety without dishonoring the sanctity of individual liberty. On another side bar. Years ago, both the pharmaceutical industry and the tobacco industry had opportunity to harness this technology and they dismissed it. I think about this often. Why? I think both industries have grown so far removed from the realities of the lives of real people and I think this one event illustrates they are both failing to meet the needs of the populations that they purpose to serve. Fast forward and the vaping industry is growing up through grass roots channels; to meet the needs of the population within which they belong. Business opportunities have sprung for the “common” person to own a shop, become involved in public policy campaigns, become members of organizations that seek to improve the lives of others. Grass roots activities the like of which I haven’t witnessed in my own generation until now.

I doubt you are someone who seeks to intentionally misinform anyone. I trust you are someone who genuinely believes you are doing something for the betterment of others.

I would ask, before you go ahead with this line of erroneous bullet points, read the following, talk to members of the American Association of Public Health Physicians, explore the cited sources at the end of the following, e mail me and lets talk about it. Vaping is a good thing; relative to smoking, vaping is a good thing. Please don’t demonize it any longer. Please quit acting in a way that marginalizes those of us in the 20 percent. Thank you for reading

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